1. Field
This application relates to the mining of precious metals, in particular gold.
2. Prior Art
Gold prospectors and miners typically travel to remote locations to locate rich deposits of gold bearing placer deposits. To reach these Locations requires a tremendous amount of effort on the part of the prospector. The prospector is usually limited in the amount of equipage that he is able to transport. With the exception of the basic gold pan, all the equipment traditionally needed to process these placer deposits has been extremely heavy and bulky. While a basic gold pan is very efficient, it is not able to process a very large amount of gold bearing sands and gravel. Therefore, the tool of choice to accomplish a reasonable rate of recovery has been the gold sluice or some variation of it. Efforts have been made in the past to reduce the physical requirements needed to transport the needed sluice or its variation, usually at the forfeit of usability or function. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 377,182 issued Jan. 7, 1997 to Simpson, shows a basic sluice. While small and functional it is not very versatile, requiring a flowing natural water source in order to function. Its reduced size also limits the amount of raw material it is able to process. A larger more efficient transportable sluice is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,415 issued Mar. 26, 1974 to Tidd. While greatly more efficient, its size and carrying method require too much effort to transport. Another piece of equipment favored by prospectors is an enhanced version of the sluice commonly called a high banker. It derives its name by the fact that it can be used out and away from the stream flow. This does make it much more versatile than a basic sluice but is again more difficult to transport. In order to function it requires a source of pressurized water. This source is usually obtained by using a gas or electric pump with its intake source a stream or an area of ponded water. U.S. Pat. No. 7,012,209 B2, issued Mar. 14, 2006 to Loewen, shows an apparatus using this method. Transportation by manual methods is extremely cumbersome and not very desirable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,270 issued Jun. 25, 1985 to McCann, depicts an interesting apparatus but due to its small size and cumbersome handling and transporting characteristics leaves much to be desired by the prospector. Having to empty and clean the filter bag system is a further interference to efficiency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,985 issued Mar. 16, 1982 to Hibbard, is a more efficient system but is lacking the portability desired by the prospector. All the aforementioned devices also lacks the flexibility needed to have a diverse, fully functional piece of prospecting equipment. They lack the ability to process placer gravel and sand by more than one method. In addition to the sluice and its variant, previously referred to as a high banker, another piece of prospecting equipment is available commonly referred to as a suction dredge. This apparatus uses water or air forced down a hose to the nozzle under pressure. Its function is to generate a negative pressure in the nozzle whereby in addition to the pressurized air/water stream the negative pressure in the nozzle sucks in through the nozzle tip additional water and a quantity of sand and gravel. These are then carried to a separating device, called a sluice. U.S. Pat. No. 1,653,027, issued Dec. 20, 1927 to Ward, demonstrates this nozzle This nozzle is designed for large commercial mining ventures with no thought to the small prospector. None of the devices referred to have the dual function and ability to accept and process both placer sand and gravel by either a slurry as provided by the suction nozzle system and also manually by hand feeding with a shovel or a variant.